Westerfield resin car kits

[Anonymous]

Does anyone buy resin craftsman car kits? I just want to know if they would be a little too difficult of a project for a 14-year old who has only put together a few Walthers kits and 3 Red Caboose reefers. I went to their website and the finished models look like they're brass.

[Anonymous]

Was this a bad question to ask?

[AggroJones]

I'm 22 years old and don't even mess with them. Mostly because the cost for 1 kit is way too high. Plus I hear getting paint to adhere properly to resin is difficult.

I don't think you should muck with one unless it is a single prototype you are especially fond of. [2c]

[Anonymous]

AggroJones, I'm not interested in any prototypes of freight cars- I'd just like to have a varied roster of old and new (for my era) cars on my future layout. You've confirmed my decision to stick with Red Caboose, Proto 2000, Bowser and Atlas. Anything that would be hard to paint I don't want anything to do with.

[Anonymous]

Prior to painting any resin kits , you must thoroughly wash off the 'mold -release' on the resin parts; many recommend Westley's 'white wall (automotive) tire bleach., available at Pep Boys, AutoZone, etc. ($5. worth will do a yard full of cars.) Then they can be painted with almost any kind of paint over a primer compatible with the top coat. I've never built any Westerfield resin kits but they are reputed to be very accurate models of specific prototypes. As far as glue to construct resin kits, most use both a 5-minute type epoxy and CA (super glue); regular plastic solvent liquid cement or that useless tube cement will not work on resin. Resin is usually more brittle than plastic Typical resin kits should be checked for warpage prior to starting assembly and sometimes a bit more flash may need to be removed. They really aren't much more complex than plastic kits--they just often cost a bunch more, because they are made in much smaller production runs for a limited audience.

[nfmisso]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cjm89

Does anyone buy resin craftsman car kits? I just want to know if they would be a little too difficult of a project for a 14-year old who has only put together a few Walthers kits and 3 Red Caboose reefers. I went to their website and the finished models look like they're brass.

Yes, and probably. In addition, you will need a few more tools - primarily for removing flash, drilling holes etc. I would like to suggest that you assemble a dozen or so more kits before you tackle the resin kits. Specifically early P2K (not the current quick kits), and Branchline Blueprint series.

As Bill mentions, adhesives and cleaning are a bit different, but not rocket science.

Have fun.